Stay with Me

by Sheryl Wright

  Feeling extremely self-conscious, Aydan stood at the foot of the staircase, trying desperately to look like she wasn’t feeling out of place. She had followed the company president upstairs to their condo, bristling inside at the idea while chiding herself for her own trepidation. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t met any lesbians before. It seemed like half the women in her engineering classes were gay. She had kept her distance from them just as she had from her male counterparts, but she had been curious. Her brothers always had such terrible things to say about those women, things her mother would pounce on as proof of Aydan’s own misdeeds. How her mother would weep to know she had willingly entered the home of two of those women. For all she knew this Lori woman was one too. Forcing her attention back on the conversation between the Lori woman and Ms. Marsh, she took her time surreptitiously surveying the extravagant apartment.

  The space was nothing like she had ever seen. Two stories high with an ornate brass circular staircase leading down from the level on which they had entered, it reminded her of a spread from a magazine. The dining table, set for four, was situated right in the bullnose of the building’s west end. The room itself was open concept with a large designer kitchen and the living area across from it was tastefully furnished. She blushed to realize how her married sisters would gush over the décor. Beautiful built-in cabinets adorned each wall and the space was large enough to accommodate an intimate seating area in front of a fireplace, and a large more formal grouping.

  Everything is so…elegant and…normal. What was I expecting? She very much doubted the company president trolled the discount shops on Transit Road for furniture or clothing but this…

  “Wow, Tiger! Look at this place,” Lori exclaimed. “Georgie said you had it squared away but this…” She whistled, spreading her arms to encompass the entire apartment. Turning to Aydan, she filled in the blanks for the first-time visitor. “Georgie has lived up here for about, what, five-six years and never thought to buy furniture.”

  Slightly stunned by the comment, she wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Oh, it wasn’t that bad,” Ms. Marsh said, explaining, “It’s okay, Aydan. She wasn’t sleeping on the floor or anything like that. She had a couch, a TV, and every game console they make.”

  Making herself at home in the kitchen, Lori got out glassware before raiding the fridge. “We’ve got juice, pop, iced tea and…something green,” she said, holding up the glass canister for all to see.

  “That’s iced green tea. I’m trying to wean Georgie off the caffeinated stuff in the evenings.”

  Lori put it away without comment. Clearly she understood what that was about and again Aydan didn’t want to ask, although lots of interesting facts were surfacing from Lori’s rambling dialogue. She imagined it would wear on people but it was working to keep her calm. It was almost as if the woman knew she needed someone to fill in the silence. She was far too intimidated by Tyler Marsh and dreaded the idea of being alone with the woman. There was no way for her to tell if this Lori was purposefully acting as a buffer or if she was always this way. It gave her comfort in the moment and for that she was thankful.

  “Oh, there’s milk too, unless you would like wine or a beer, Aydan?”

  Suddenly caught out not paying attention, she cleared her throat, asking with rising color, “I’m so sorry, Ms. Phipps. What were my choices?”

  Grinning, Lori repeated her list before adding some additional choices. “And please call me Lori. Look, if you want something else, just say the word and I’ll have them bring it up with our lunch.”

  For a moment she wondered if this was a test. What was the best answer?

  When she didn’t say anything, Lori simply poured her a glass of ice water before waving her over to the redecorated formal living area where Tyler was already seated. “Nice going, tiger,” she complimented her again, lifting her cold drink in a salute.

  “Thank you, but it’s not all me. Georgie is just as much a part of the changes up here as she is with the rest of the company…companies,” she corrected.

  “I hear you, sister. Is she still burning the candle at both ends?”

  “Oh, it’s not that, Lor. She just worries over how much pressure she’s put on everyone. You know what she’s like.”

  “Yeah I do, but you of all people should know it’s nothing compared to how much she’s handled for all of us over the years. In a way, things are much more balanced now, and I think all of us and all the companies will do better. Besides, we’re all still leaning pretty hard on her. God knows she really made the design changes for the boat line so much more doable. Christ, I’ve got half the boat builders in Europe begging to use the transient bulkhead system she created for me. We’re selling a shitload—”

  “Lori,” Tyler warned.

  “Oops. Sorry for the potty mouth, Aydan. I guess you can take the girl out of the boatyard but you can’t take the boatyard out of the girl.”

  Aydan was watching Ms. Marsh and imagined she had somehow missed the fact that this Lori woman had only apologized to her. When she noted the crooked smile Marsh gave her, it gave away her fondness for Lori Phipps. Was there something to that? Were gay girls like that? Did they practice monogamy? Did they even understand it?

  Before she could speculate further on any hidden meaning, Ms. Marsh asked, “Aydan, Lori and I need to talk to you about Georgie and some other more delicate issues. Are you comfortable with that?”

  Am I comfortable? Since when does my comfort factor into anyone’s perspective? No, she wasn’t comfortable with anything and hadn’t been since learning that her new boss was a gay girl, woman…lesbian. She didn’t like that word. The way her brothers would say it with a sneer of contempt always popped into her head whenever she thought of it.

  “The first thing I need you to know is that you are not in trouble. Understand?”

  She didn’t but nodded.

  “First things first, how do you like working for Georgie?” Tyler asked.

  Of all the things she had feared being asked this wasn’t one. “It’s fine.”

  “F-I-N-E!” Lori spelled out, “Fucked-up, Insecure, Neurotic…”

  “Lori, really?” Ms. Marsh snarled.

  “Sorry Ty, but Georgie will be back soon and I’m hungry, so stop beating around the bush.”

  Aydan almost laughed at the battle of wills going on between the two divisional presidents, and all over the language being used in front of her. “My brothers have said worse,” she offered.

  “Still, we have a code of conduct in this company, the family of companies, and Ms. Phipps knows better.”

  “Aw, come on, Tiger. Sorry, I was just lettin’ my hair down but you’re right, I do know better. Let’s get back to business, shall we?” At a nod from Ms. Marsh the Lori woman turned directly to her. “Aydan—can I call you Aydan?”

  She nodded, surprised to be asked. Her personal feelings on a subject, even if that subject happened to be her, had never been taken into consideration at home. This was strange and disturbing in a way. Maybe this was what her dean had meant when she implied working for a company led by women meant the atmosphere and underlying environment would be different. At the time she assumed those differences would be subtle or unworthy of attention, perhaps even distasteful or anti-male. Only here she was, and no one was anti-anything and everyone, including the males, were considerate and respectful.

  “Georgie is my cousin and best buddy but she’s pretty complicated. I’m talking about her health issues, complications…”

  “Limited oral communications skills,” Ms. Marsh explained.

  “Yeah, what she said. Listen Aydan, do you know about her head getting scrambled and all that?” At Aydan’s nod, Lori continued, explaining, “See, the thing is Georgie needs an assistant. Now I know you have your hands full with your internship stuff but well, Georgie likes you. In case you didn’t know it, that’s not a given. As a matter of fact, she can be a real hard…” Lori Phipps gave Ms. Marsh a guilty look
before correcting, “Hard boss. She can be tough on her people, but it’s only because she’s so hard on herself. Tyler, help me out here.”

  Ms. Marsh took over. “There are several things you need to know. One, your internship will not be affected by accepting a part-time role within the company. I already checked with Dean Winowski and she confirmed that point. Actually, she was really supportive and believes it will give you a much better glimpse into the day-to-day efforts involved in leading a new tech company, with the bonus of working as a project leader, side by side with the VP of engineering. Is that something you think you would want to do one day?”

  “Be a project leader or secretary?” She hadn’t meant to sound so harsh in her reaction but she didn’t like that they had gone behind her back to the dean. Just who did they think they were? She recognized her mother’s condescending voice a second before she saw the ice in Ms. Marsh’s eyes.

  “Whoa there, kiddo,” Lori Phipps cut in. “That’s not what we’re offering you. Yes, being an assistant sucks sometimes but you also get to work closely at Georgie’s side. Two, you get paid and I don’t know anyone who couldn’t use a few more bucks, right? Besides, we all started at the bottom in this family. That tea-making duty we had you pull wasn’t because you’re a woman or anything. You’re the junior guy up there so you get the duty. That’s how it worked for all of us and as much as I hated it back then I get it now. Georgie believes, and we agree, that you have to learn to do before you can lead. There are no managers in this company and it’s the same out at the boatyard. You’re either a leader or a worker bee and even worker bees who earn their chops reap a share of the rewards. You’ll see that too, if you stick around.”

  That stunned her. Not the starting from the bottom, which she didn’t believe in, but the quip about sticking around. “So I have to take the job or…” She couldn’t believe it much less say what she was thinking.

  “Aydan,” Ms. Marsh intervened. “Nothing you say here today will affect your internship. Only your performance and attitude have any weight where that’s concerned.”

  She didn’t answer. Shaking, she didn’t trust her voice not to crack. What was it with these women? She wasn’t sure if they were inappropriately alluding to something she didn’t understand or just trying to be helpful. Why would they? Unless…

  “There are actually two part-time positions open but before I explain the different duties, I want you to know how dependent Georgie is on her assistant. And there is a reason why we’re looking internally. You see, Georgie is a very private person. She is also very sensitive to change. It’s my goal to make the transition to her new assistant seamless, so as to not upset her work. That would be much easier to do if her new assistant was someone she already knows and respects.”

  That caught her attention. The boss respects me? “You said you were looking internally. What did the other interns say?”

  “The other interns,” Tyler explained without rancor, “are working with the legacy group. Georgie doesn’t really know them. I haven’t spoken to them and for that reason I won’t. At the moment there are three candidates in house, of which you are the top choice. Now, would you like to learn about the job duties, or are you set against it?”

  “Who?” she asked without thinking, “are the other candidates?” She was shocked by her own boldness.

  Ms. Marsh shook her head. “I’m sorry. That would be a breach of privacy, just as it would be for me to repeat any portion of this conversation with them.”

  “Aw, come on, Tyler. I’m a little curious myself to know which of our employees would voluntarily sign up for babysitting duty.”

  “Lori, really, I don’t remember you thinking it was such a bad job back when you and Marnie were begging me to take it.” Turning to Aydan, she added almost as a challenge, “Yes, I started here as Georgie’s assistant.”

  “What?” Now Aydan was more confused than ever. “But you’re the president. She works for you.”

  “Oh boy,” Lori groaned, before teasing, “Yeah, you’re the president. How does that work?”

  As if having some sort of sixth sense, Tyler Marsh stood as Georgie’s service dog bounded in, heading right for her while Georgie herself followed with a waiter and serving cart on her heels. Aydan watched in fascination as her boss’s boss scolded her boss. “Georgina DiNamico, you’re covered in snow, again! Upstairs this minute and take Maggie with you.” If she hadn’t seen the smile on Ms. Marsh’s face, much less heard Lori’s hearty laugh, she would have imagined them fighting.

  Still laughing, the Lori woman challenged her boss, “Oh, you are so busted, buddy. What were you two doing, rolling in the snow or something?”

  Georgie, all smiles too, shook her head, “Slipped…crossing…” She pointed out the window toward Erie Street and the lake.

  “And you just had to roll around in it while you were down, eh?” Lori continued to tease.

  Ms. Marsh was now at her boss’s side. She watched the two, frozen with interest at the unfolding scene. She had braced herself, presupposing anything nearing intimate interaction would make her sick. It’s what people always said, what her mother always said. Was it disgusting? Would it make her sick to see? While the Lori woman began preparing tea, the waiter from the restaurant finished setting out their lunch. As he departed, each woman thanked him by name. It all seemed so normal then…then Ms. Marsh stepped up to her boss, brushing snow from her hair and collar. Aydan was so caught by the familiarity she stared shamelessly at the pair.

  “You okay, baby? Where did you fall?” she asked with more than gentleness.

  Aydan had never heard two women speak in such intimate tones. Had she ever heard any two people talk like that? Maybe, she admitted, when she was young and her father was still alive.

  “Crossing Perry…snowbank…icy.”

  She watched Tyler Marsh reassure the woman, the whole time caressing her face. Then she did the one thing Aydan had dreaded seeing. They embraced and were actually kissing, right there for the whole world to see! A sudden pressure against her leg pulled Aydan from her trance. The dog, Maggie, was at her side and leaning heavily on her leg. That was the other weird thing about these people. They let this dog wander around the office as she pleased. “She’s leaning on me. What does it mean?”

  “She likes you,” Ms. Marsh said as she led her boss up the circular stairs.

  “Come give me a hand here, Aydan?” the Lori woman asked.

  There wasn’t much she could do but comply. The sooner she got through this the better. “Do they always do…that?”

  “What, take off just when lunch shows up? Naw, those two are well behaved. Trust me; Tyler will have our girl cleaned up and back down here in minutes.”

  Not really comfortable being alone with the other big boss, she did realize this might be her only chance to ask things she wouldn’t dream of voicing to anyone else. As she began, something sparked in the back of her brain. I trust this Lori woman. “I understand she’s a veteran and disabled, but why does everyone cater to her?”

  “Georgie?” The woman was clearly surprised. Aydan’s intrinsic trust in this stranger was immediately confirmed. Smiling, Lori noted with clear joy, “I see you haven’t spent too much time with our niece and resident gossip Zoe, or you’d be up on the 411. So here’s the short version. Georgina DiNamico is the eldest of all the cousins and was the heir to the family company. You do know her grandfather started this company, DiNamico Marine and DynaCraft?” At Aydan’s nod, she continued. “Okay well, old Luigi started the company and did real well for himself. He had three kids, Georgie’s dad, my dad Henry, and our great-aunt Georgina for whom she is obviously named. Old Georgina was closest to our Georgie. Anyway, Georgie was raised to lead the company until some ass…sorry! Until a surface to air missile took out her whole crew and left her flat on her back for a year. The Georgie you know today is a vast improvement over what the air force shipped home to us.”

  “Is that why you keep her on? F
or her service, I mean?”

  Lori Phipps stood up, looking down at her from her whole six feet. “I don’t think you’re getting the picture here. Georgie is the company. She is single-handedly responsible for seventy, maybe eighty percent of the new patents and innovations we’re building on and all of the new revenue outside the yacht manufacturing stream.”

  Aydan wasn’t sure which was more shocking, the fact that her boss had actually been groomed to lead, or how much Lori’s tone and demeanor had changed. “I didn’t mean any offense. I…don’t you worry about how it must look, with her…disability I mean?”

  Sighing, the woman remained standing rigid, but her eyes were kind. Kind eyes—kind blue eyes. “Considering the current politics surrounding Muslim Americans, people could say the same thing to us about you. I bet Georgie never even batted an eye when you walked in with your head scarf thingy and all your winter layers. She doesn’t see people like that. She’s got some special thing where she just sees the best in everyone. And you need to know, there is nothing she can’t do. Yes, she has some challenges speaking off the cuff and it’s one of the things we’ll go over if you take the job.”

  “She, Ms. Marsh…”

  “You do know it’s Doctor Marsh, don’t you? The woman has a PhD and she’s brilliant!”

  Stunned by this news as well, Aydan colored, realizing that in the weeks Georgie DiNamico and Ms…Doctor Marsh had been back from Miami, she hadn’t given any thought to their achievements or credentials. “Does she, Georgie I mean, does it bother her not to be in charge? I mean it would bother me if I had prepared for it all my life.”

  “Are you kidding me? Well, you’ll get to know this on your own but try to understand that she doesn’t care about things like that. For her it’s always about what’s best for the family and the business and always in that order. As for—”